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A. H. MILLER May 13, 1924.

BUCKLE Filed may 17. 1923 IN V EN TOR.

A TTORN E YS.

Patented May 13, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERTO H. MILLER, or iamnenron'r, oonnno'rron'r, ASSIGNOR To'rnnooivnno'riour WEB AND BUCKLE COMPANY, or BRIDGEIPOBT, CONNECTICUT, AooRronA- BUCKLE.

Application filed May 17, 1923. Serial Ito-639,563.

To all 1072 0171. may 007106771.

Be it known that I, ALBERTO H. MILLER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Bridgeport, county of Fairfield, State of Connecticut, haveinvented a new and useful Buckle, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to'buckles adapted for general use and especiallyfor use in connection with suspenders, ladies and childrens hosesupporters. This buckle is of the so-called rustless type. In this typeof buckle, as generally constructed, it has usually been found necessaryto provide the securing tongue of a lever with a series of teethin orderthat the buckle should hold and not slip. Those teeth, however, are objectionable because when the buckle is closed they are pressed into theweb tending to cut the rubber and also the fabric of the web. Also whenthe buckle is opened the swing of these teeth about the pivot of thelever moves the points thereof under the stitches of the fabric andtears this fabric as the teeth move away from the web. This isparticularly objectionable where a fancy or loosely woven web isemployed. Numerous attempts have been made to overcome this objection,principally by omitting the teeth and relying on the straight free edgeof the tongue to hold the web. These constructions, while they did awaywith the tearing effect of the teeth, were not satisfactory because theydid not hold but slipped on the web when the web was placed undertension.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a buckleof this type which will not cut or tear the web and one in which the webis securely fastened, and,

therefore, will not slip. It is a further object of the invention to soshape the edge of the clamping tongue as to improve its action in theclosing and the unlocking movements so that these may be more easilyperformed. v lVith the foregoing and other objects in view, I havedevised the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawing, inwhich I Fig.1 is a plan view of a portion of a suspender or hosesupporter showing the buckle in position thereon.

. Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof.

Fig. '3 is a longitudinal central section through the same. l

Fig. 4: is a bottom view of the form of buckle shown in Figs. 2 and 3open and removed from the web. v

Fig. 5 is'a' similar view of the buckle having a slightly differentconstruction;

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the end of the buckle showing the type ofbuckle in Fig. 5 and open. i

Fig. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view through the web andbuckle ofFig. 6, but showing the buckle closed, and i Fig. 8 is a plan view ofthe free plain edge the tongue showing the preferred con tour.

Referring to Figs. 2, 3 and. 4, I have shown a construction of bucklesubstantially that shown in the patent to George T. Brannigan, No.1,454,666, issued May 8, 1923, with my improved means for facilitatingthe opening and closing of this buckle; In this construction of bucklethere is a substantially rectangular frame, preferably of wire, whichcomprises front and back members 10 and 11 respectively. The back.member preferably is provided with a projection 12 to prevent turning ofthe end of the web 13 on this back member. To the front member 10 ispivoted a lever 14, preferably by suitable curved lugs 15 embracing thefront member 10. This lever comprises a top 16 by which the lever isoperated and which also rests on the top of the web when the lever is inclosed position. The lever is provided with a securing tongue which hasa body portion 17 extending forwardly under the top 16 from adjacent thepivots and is then bent at 18 at an angle to the body portion,preferably in a direction awayfrom the top, and terminates in a plainfree edgev 19. The portion of the tongue between the bend at 18 and thefree edge 19 is preferably substantially flat, and is so arranged thatwhen the lever is in closed or securing position, shown in Fig. 8, thissurface extends through the frame with the bend and the plain free edgelying on opposite sides of a line 20 extending through the centers ofthe front and backmembers 10 and 11 of the frame, and is also positionedadjacent the back member 11 so as to clamp the web against this backmember. 1 The free end of the web 21 is wrapped around the back number11 of the frame and stitched, as shown at 22, then extends through theloop' 28 of a'clasp, not shown, and down throughthe frame between. thefront and back members and between the lever and theback member. Thetongue of the lever is sufficiently resilient to yield or give theneces. sary amount when the lever is operated and also to allow use ofdifferent thicknesses of web.

Referring to Fig. 3 it will be seen that when the lever is presseddownwardly into closed position the surface between the bend 18 and freeedge 19 engages the top of the web and presses the same against the backmember 11 of the frame. Thissurface is so locateclthat when the lever isin fully closed position at least a portion of its plain edge 19 willhave passed through the frame, or at least beyond the line 20 joiningthe centers of the front and back members of the frame and pressure ofthe web thereon will tend to bend the lever further towards closedposition and so securely hold the lever in this securing position. Thebend 18, however, is on the other side of the line 20 so that as tensionis put on the web the pull thereof on the edge 19 will tend to move thelever further in a direction of its closing movement and the bend 18will, therefore, tend to move somewhat nearer the back member of theframe and more securely clamp the web thereagainst. It will, therefore,be apparent that as the free edge 19 and bend 18 are on opposite sidesof line 20 the lever is securely held in closed or securing position andthe wel is securely clamped between the surface formed between the bend18 and the free edge and the back member 11. of the frame so that thereis very little likelihood of the lever inadvertently raising to unclampthe buckle, and also the web is securely fastened so that there is noslippage. As the free edge 19 is plain and not provided with teeth theweb is not torn or injured in any way.

In the patented structure, however, the plain edge of the tongne'isshown as be ing straight and it will, therefore, be apparent that whenthe lever ismoved to or from closed position the entire edgewill passthrough the frame of the buckle or past the back member '11 at the sametime. It will also be apparent that with the straight edge, in openingand closing the buckle the resistance of the entire length of the edgeof the tonguemust be overcome at practically the same instant.Therefore, in order to make a more smoothly and easily operating buckleI have'curved this plain edge somewhat, substantially, as shown, in thedrawing, so that only a. small portion of it will pass through the frameor past the'back member 11 at a given instant in locking or unlockingthe buckle. It Will thus be apparent that as the resistance of only asmall portion of this edge must be overcome at the same time the leverwill be much more easily operated either in locking or unlocking thebuckle. The plain edge may be given various shapes but I prefer thatsubstantially as shown in I i gs. l, 5 and 8. As will be apparent fromthese figures the edge projects the greatest amount at substantially thecenter of the tongue, as indicated at 24, and then gradually inclines l.aelnvardly on opposite sides of this center toward the lateral sides ofthe tongue, and I also preferably make the edge a short distanceinwardly from the sides of the tongue slightly concav-ed, as shown25, but this is not necessary as the edges at this point may be straightor the inclines may extend directly to the sides. This form of the plainedge makes the clamping surface of the tongue between the bend 18 andthe free edge 19 wide-r at substantially its central portion and thengradually decreasing in width from. this central portion to the sides ofthe tongue.

It will also be apparent that as the lever is. moved to closed orsecuring position the projecting portion 24 will be the first to passthrough the frame followed by the inclined portions of the plainedge sothat the passage of the edge through the frame will be gradual and notall at one time as would be the case with a straight edge. Also byplacing the farthest advanced portion of the edge in the center insteadof at one side of the tongue there is no lateral thrust on the lever ineither direction. This construction has a wedging action and starts toclose by dragging up the center of the web and drawing it laterallysomewhat through the space 26 formed in making the projection 12 in theback meniiber 11, so that when tension is placed on the web a lateralpull or strain is induced on the web tending to clamp the same moresecurely. The center of the web is push d down somewhat farther throughthe frame than are the sides, as shown, at 30.

It will also be apparent that in opening or unlocking the buckle thisshaped edge givcs'a smoother and easier operation for the same reasonsas in closing because the entire edge does not pass through the frame atthe same time. '7

deferring to the forms shown in Figs. 5. 6 and 7 I have applied thispeculiarly shaped edge to a straight tongue 27 using the same back ofthe frame as in the first form, this straight tongue being applied to abuckle having a forward portion or top 28, the same as in the firstform, and the plain free edge ofthis tongue is given substantially thesame contour as that shown in the first form. The tongue is so arrangedthat at least a portion of this edge, and preferably all of it, passesthrough the frame when the lever is moved to securing position,substantially as shown in Fig. 7. "When this buckle is accurately madeand the tongue 27 accurately positionedfor the thickness of web withwhich it is intended to be used, it holds very well, but as the webvaries in thickness, and in manufacture the buckles also vary, this formcannot be depended upon in the trade, as the allowable error is notsufficiently large. This form of tongue holds better .if used with thetype of back member 11 having the projections 12 and the space 26 intoand through which the central portion of the web is drawn and wedged bythe most of advanced portion ill of the tongue, as shown at 29 in Fig.7.

The constructions above described provide a buckle which securely holdsthe web against slipping and also provides a lever which is very easy tooperate both to and from the closed or securing position. This isimportant in the opening or unlocking operation, as well as in closing,especially as in the starting of the unlocking operation a full gripcannot always be secured on the top of the lever.

Having thus set forth the nature of my invention, what I claim is:

1. A buckle comprising a frame having spaced front and back members, anda lever pivoted to the front member and provided with a front portionand a tongue extending forwardly from the pivot toward the back memberto press a web thereagainst when the lever is in securing position andterminating in a plain edge, said plain edge being provided with a wedgeshaped portion and so arranged that at least a portion of the edge willpass through the frame when the lever is moved to securing position.

2. A buckle comprising a frame having spaced front and back members, anda lever pivoted to the front member and provided with a front portionand a tongue extending forwardly from the pivot toward the back memberto press a web thereagainst when the lever is in securing position andterminating in a plain edge, the tongue being longest at substantiallyits center and gradually shorter on opposite sides thereof so,

that the edge will be inclined baekwardly on both sides of the center,and said plain edge being so arranged that at least a portion thereofwill pass through the frame when the lever is moved to securingposition.

3. A buckle comprising a frame having spaced front and back members, anda lever pivoted to the front member and provided with a front portionand a tongue extending forwardly from the pivot toward the back memberto press a web thereagainst when the lever is in securing position andterminating in a plain edge, said edge being inclined backwardly fromsubstantially its center on opposite sides thereof and arranged so thatat least a portion thereof passes beyond the back member when the leveris moved to securing position.

4. A buckle comprising a frame having spaced front and back members, anda lever pivoted to the front member and provided with a front portionand a tongue extending forwardly from the pivot toward the back memberwhen the lever is in securing position and terminating in a plain edge,said tongue being bent laterally at a distance from said plain edge toform a surface adjacent the rear member extending through the frame whenin securing position and press the web against the back member, saidsurface being widest at substantially its center and gradually narrowertowards the sides of the tongue from said widest part.

5. A buckle comprising a frame having spaced back and front members, anda lever pivoted to the front member provided with a top portion and atongue extending forwardly under the top of the lever from said pivottoward the free edge thereof, said tongue then being bent laterally awayfrom the top and terminating in a plain edge spaced from said bend toform a clamping surface adjacent the back member and of sufiicient widthto extend through the frame when in securing position and press the webagainst the back member, said surface being Widest at substantially itsmid portion and gradually narrower from this portion toward the sides ofthe tongue.

6. A buckle comprising a frame having spaced front and back members, anda lever pivoted to the front member and provided with a front portionand a tongue extending forwardly from the pivot toward the back memberto ress a web thereagainst when the lever is 111 securing position andterminating in a plain edge, said tongue being longest at substantiallyits center and gradually shorter on opposite sides thereof so that theedge will be inclined backwardly on both sides of the center, and saidback member being provided with an offset portion at substantially itsinidlength extending away from the lever and providing a space throughwhich the projecting center of the tongue draws in the center of the webwhen the buckle is closed.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

ALBERTO H. MILLER.

